Star-Crossed Somethings
by MeltedJujubees
Summary: I'll meet you halfway between your world and mine, where the sun meets the shadows and everything is right.
1. Chapter 1

_**A/N: Just a dump for all my Talon/Lux stuff that either didn't get into my fic or has nothing to do with it.**_

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She'd been stationed in the Du Couteau household for quite some time now.

Lux's days blurred together, none being distinct from another, and her weeks bled into months, and the passage of time only became notable when her deployment neared a year in length; occasionally she would feel some sort of pang for home, but only for a moment before she remembered that she didn't have a home to return to, and that the spare room allotted to her in the Du Couteau mansion was just as meaningful to her as Demacia was.

Probably more so- Noxus had never personally robbed Lux of anything, although that didn't quite absolve them of the crimes they had committed.

Lux was eager to steer clear of her more resentful thoughts regarding Demacia while she was away because that made her long days drag out terribly, and lucky for her that was easily accomplished; see, as mind-numbingly dull as posing as a handmaiden was, Lux had plenty of fascinating things to focus on when she wasn't actively doing laundry or cooking someone's meal. Katarina was a transient presence in the house with duties tying her to High Command and some battlefield or another and Cassiopeia had long since forsaken her home, but the third Du Couteau heir (if she could call him that) had recently begun spending more and more time encumbered in his room or a training room or making frequent passes through the kitchen and library while he went about his day.

And for some reason, Lux was completely, utterly obsessed with Talon Du Couteau.

She was being creepy, she knew that; being a handmaiden meant that her presence was entirely expected and also completely ignored, so wherever Talon went, she could be. She made his meals, tended to whatever needs he had while training, tidied books he left out when he finished in the library. Small, menial tasks that would, to some degree, require her to be in his presence. The attraction was so bizarre to her because Talon hardly ever did anything worth noting; he ate alone and quietly, he sifted through books without ever reading entirely through one, he trained for hours on end without a word and never once acknowledged anyone else in the house, her or otherwise. Maybe Lux was fixated on him because of the anticipation of someday hearing him speak, to see some outburst of sound or emotion, any little sign of life from him. As the yearly anniversary of her deployment came and went, Lux's hope of seeing such a thing diminished, but she still watched the quiet man do quiet things while she toiled away at a job that never actually seemed any closer to being finished.

It was when the snow was beginning to melt away that Lux finally got what she was waiting for- or something close. It was dreadfully dreary outside, and thick, gray clouds smothered the sun and bestowed an early night upon the household. Lux stepped into the library with a tray laden with a cup and a small pot of coffee, eyeing the darkness outside through one of the giant windows that stretched the entire two floors of the library with a small twitch of annoyance. She liked (rare though it was) the days when the sun shone bright and strong through those windows, covering the floor with a blanket of sunshine that stretched all the way to the walls of books. She sighed to herself as she carried the coffee to the winding staircase leading to the second floor, each step of her foot a muffled shuffle against the thick carpet. She'd never given thought to being particularly stealthy in her approach before because Talon hardly ever looked at her when she brought him anything, but as she crested the staircase he was already laser focused on her face, and she paused on that last step, hesitating beneath what was almost a glare.

In almost a year of him studiously _not_ looking at her, it was a shock to suddenly become the subject of his completely undivided attention.

He said nothing, strangely enough, just continued to stare at her all while leaning against one of the many shelves of books, a thick volume held open in his hands. It was an odd picture he presented; hood hung lower over his eyes, despite being inside, cradling a book Lux was sure he'd only skimmed through. It could have been that she was suddenly uncomfortable and seeing things that weren't really there, but to her it seemed like every bit of shadow in the dark corner of the library he'd chosen to settle in was flocking to him, dusting his cloak and his face until all Lux could really see where two very curious amber eyes.

They both knew that her pause at the steps was a nervous and unusual one, and since Lux suddenly did not want any more of Talon's attention than was already focused on her, she quickly stepped to a small table set a few feet away from the bookshelves, gently laying the coffee tray down and intending to immediately depart.

"You don't like the rain."

Lux froze with her hand on the lid of the coffee pot, taking an inordinately long amount of time to force her muscles to move. It was the first time she'd ever heard Talon speak in more than a year of service; she had expected, based on appearances alone, a rough, gravelly voice that rasped and demanded things of people; instead, his voice was low, deep, but dreadfully smooth and rich. She didn't think it was a voice that belonged to such an ordained killer, but she found it much more agreeable than anything she had imagined.

She turned towards him slowly, ending up with only half of her body facing him; what he had asked was supposed to be a question (or so she assumed) but had come out as a confident statement. He wasn't asking Lux if she didn't like the rain, he was telling her like he already knew for sure.

"No, I don't."

As if to accent her confirmation, a fresh clap of thunder shook the sky, and a wave of rain lashed against the tall windows.

She might have wondered at the question he chose to ask her, but he'd snapped the book shut in his hands with a muffled thump, pushing away from the bookshelves with a step or two in her direction. Lux couldn't help it; her body tensed the closer he came to her, and she gave an almost visible sigh of relief when he stopped advancing a pace away. He crossed his arms as he regarded her with those searching eyes, and Lux suddenly felt very small and exposed beneath his gaze.

"Unusual for a Noxian."

It was- Lux didn't know why she didn't just lie about such a simple thing, although she was beginning to feel that even if she did, he would see right through the deception. Too far gone to feign an interest in the weather now, she simple shrugged, unable to force herself to give a verbal answer. She hated the way he looked at her, like he knew this quaint mouse of a person that spent so much time unnoticed in his presence wasn't who she said she was. Like he knew all along that she was a Demacian spy, and he was biding his time until he exposed her.

A few seconds passed in which Lux did not move and Talon didn't either, only continued to stare her down like he was intent on simply intimidating a confession out of her. Her fingers curled into fists behind her back, nails biting into her palm, and as a nearly a minute of this strained silence came to pass Lux started to wonder if she really was in danger, and if she was then did she really have a chance of running down the stairs and out of the library before he caught her?

Her strained muscles were beginning to twitch as she geared herself to run, but Talon unfolded his arms and gave a nonchalant shrugs of his shoulders, causing that unusual cape to shift around his legs.

And that was it.

He returned to the bookshelf, focusing that eerie gaze on the dusty tomes instead of her, and after a shocked moment where she did nothing, Lux stiffly began her descent down the stairs. She half expected Talon to waltz down them and stop her, she half expected a shout to ring out or a knife in her back, but she was closing the library doors in a daze, and Talon had done nothing.

And even after a year of waiting and expecting, Lux wished that Talon Du Couteau never knew she existed.


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/N: just so you know, these shorts are not related to one another unless I say so, and are in no kind of chronological order. It's all just a mess. As with my other fic, responses to reviews are below :)**_

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"That's ridiculous," Talon murmured, the whisper getting lost somewhere against Lux's skin.

She stifled a laugh as Talon's lips roved over a particularly ticklish part of her neck, letting the touch linger for _just_ one more second before maneuvering her hands between them and gently pushing him back. Not back far, granted, just the few inches required for Lux to see his face.

" _Listen,_ " she said, a laugh still lingering in her voice. She wasn't being particularly persuasive, but that easy grin on her lips convinced Talon to let her finish.

But if she didn't make it _snappy-_

"It makes perfect sense," she breathed, picking up a disagreement from before. Well, minutes before.

"Two people, _soulmates,_ destined to be together, but always kept apart by the universe."

Lux said this to Talon with exaggerated sorrow in her tone, draping a hand across her forehead and sighing forlornly.

"It's very dramatic, really," she finished, and although Talon fought very hard not to roll his eyes, he couldn't help himself.

" _You're_ dramatic."

The feigned sorrow on her face dropped away and was replaced with another wide smile, one that caught the edges of the moonlight slanting through Lux's bedroom window. He pursed his lips, half wanting to ignore what she'd said so that he could kiss her again, but also half wanting to challenge that smile.

"Star-crossed lovers? Really?"

Lux shrugged the best she could as entangled with him as she was, that mischievous gleam in Talon's eyes making her heart flutter.

"Star-crossed somethings, at least."

A very undignified snort followed.

"Right."

He dipped for that kiss then, and Lux's hands gave way so that he could get close enough to do so. The electricity beneath her lips fizzled away any desire to offer a rebuttal, and when Talon shifted away to catch his breath and allow Lux to catch hers, she regarded him with a bit more seriousness than before, but still with that soft smile. Star-crossed lovers might be an exaggeration, but whatever they were…

Lux never wanted it to end.

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 _ **A/N:**_

 _ **Tahimikamaxtli- such meaningful reviews coming out from you.**_

 _ **Mirae- HI YES IM ALIVE. Just VERY stuck with the main fic right now. Thank you bb c: She has no clue they're GIANT nerds and totally in love. I'm glad to be writing something, and I hope to be putting up a chapter for HTLB soon c: Thanks for the review!**_

 _ **Guest- I love the rain…**_

 _ **Ilikepiederp- Thanks! Will do, thank you c:**_

 _ **iFireLightning- Lovers, like-minded murderers, you know. Somethings. :)**_


	3. Chapter 3

Lux was many things, but if she could ever definitively say she was _not_ something, it was superstitious.

So it struck her as odd that she should feel this way; that for some reason this meeting felt different, like the night was darker in a sinister way, that this kiss didn't feel like a hello, but rather a final goodbye. She was always happy to see Talon- beyond so. Why, then, did her hands shake? Why did the smile on her face twist, why did traitorous worries fall from her lips?

Why didn't he reassure her?

"You should go," Lux whispered, voice just as tremulous as her hands. Perhaps if she got ahead of this misfortune, if she sent him away so that he could take this air of disaster with him and come back anew-

"Lux," he answered, so stern and cold. Had he always talked to her that way?

There might have been turmoil on his face if he ever allowed such a thing; there might have been some hint of a frown, some downward twitch of his mouth to suggest that he felt any of the dread that she did.

But, no- this was his fault.

"We can't do this anymore."

Nothing. Nothing in that voice that she had heard hundreds of thousands of times, whispering her name with reverence and love. She shook her head, in denial or to clear it, she wasn't sure; she knew it would change nothing, not his mind or her confusion, and it would certainly do nothing to temper that dark, sickening wave she could feel building within herself, crashing against her skin and threatening to break free and ruin her.

"Talon…"

Her voice was so small, too quiet for him to hear, but he couldn't have missed the plaintive look on her face; he didn't miss the way her eyes pleaded with him when words couldn't, and he couldn't have missed the way her lips tried to form the words that would make him stay. He saw all of this with that painfully detached coldness, and the more Lux looked at this face of utter indifference, the harder that wave crashed against her, promising to shatter what little composure was still fighting to keep her together. He couldn't do this- not to her, not to them, not after everything they've said and done…

She swore he couldn't- he said differently.

"It isn't working," she saw him say. "It isn't _worth it_ anymore."

At first, Lux heard nothing; she saw the words on his lips, and all she could think was that once his kiss felt like home. Slowly the words wormed their way into her mind, like thin slivers of ice that cut and pierced and shred.

It's not worth it. She's not worth it.

And that was all it took for that wave to crash one more time, for it to shatter that thin veil that was all Lux had to protect herself; the wash of darkness stole her breath and stilled her heart and filled her with a pain so immeasurable she was sure it must be a physical, tangible thing, and like a wounded animal, she lashed out.

"So go then!" she snapped. It was a snarl, the way her words twisted, and she had enough fury for the both of them.

He didn't move, not at first; he was like marble, rigid and inhuman and cold, and the heat of Lux's anger or her sorrow could not reach him now.

"Go!"

The menace of this shout was marred by a tear-choked voice, which Lux furiously pretended were not falling down her cheeks; it didn't matter, he didn't need this, them, anything…

Because she wasn't worth it.

She might have sworn the mask Talon was wearing cracked, just the smallest bit, with that last stringent note, but it smoothed back into apathy, and he followed that last order with an ease that would haunt Lux just like his memory would; it would be a poison she would never shake.

And she would never be able to tell herself that she didn't wish, _always,_ that she had been worth it to him.

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 _ **A/N:**_

 _ **iFireLightning- Yeah I was like welp, he guessed it already. I will, thank you 3**_

 _ **Mirae- I think I need to do more overly sweet things, angst is too much. I LOVE title dropping, hint hint. Thank you c: the chapter is planned out, just need a good place to start, ah :c**_


	4. Chapter 4

It doesn't get better with time.

Depending on who you asked, they might say it does; you can always tell who's lost someone and who hasn't, because there are those that truly believe the passage of time erases the sting of loss, and there are those that know better.

Lux knows better.

Or maybe it didn't hurt as bad as it did at first; she was eating now. She slept better most nights, surely. Most of the time she remembered she would wake up alone. Sometimes she made it through an entire day without being reminded of him, until she resigned herself to sleep.

So, maybe those people had a point- maybe the ache just didn't hit you as hard, or maybe you grew to bear it.

Lux wasn't sure which one of the two it was. To her, the specifics didn't matter so much, only that that ache, that hollow loss and sharp-edged longing that struck her and weighed her down, never left. It was a burden she would always bear, evidently, one that bowed her back beneath the insurmountable weight of her sorrow.

And not just longing, but bitterness; a terrible resentment that she had been robbed of so many years and countless opportunities in her life and his, and their life together. Anger that they never had the chance to be open, that they would never experience being together like most people would. They were denied the small things, like family dinners no one wanted to attend, and the big things too; the things that Lux tried so, _so_ hard to never think about, because if she ever let herself dream about the family they could have started and dared to want, then the reminder that she had nothing would tear her down, and the grief she'd been shouldering would rip through her like it had the second that Talon was torn away from her; fresh, terrible, and debilitating in a way that no physical injury ever could be.

So Lux didn't think.

She drifted through days, months, years, more of a ghost than anything; she waited patiently for that day to come when the hurt just stopped hurting, and she was sad to say that it took her far too long to realize that it never would.

But she also figured out (after so long spent so carefully not thinking) that if she did dare to recall him, if she ventured to picture the uneven tilt to his smile or the ring of his voice or the exact color of his eyes, that sometimes it didn't hurt as bad. That sometimes, she could look back on those things and know what she'd lost and been denied and could still smile, albeit sadly, for the things she once had.

Because they used to be wonderful things indeed.

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 _ **A/N:**_

 _ **Ilikepiederp: I'm really not letting up with the sad stuff lmao. Sorry to your heart!**_

 _ **J4YDE- It's not too much pressure, but I would appreciate, in the future, that stuff about HTLB is not reviewed in this fic. If you have questions, feel free to leave a review on HTLB or PM me. Just kind of an update though, I'm still stuck with the next chapter, but I'm working on it.**_

 _ **Mirae- I really is awful :c Take everything I write here lightly though, I might just be writing all this sad stuff so that it's not in HTLB ;) I've got a very tentative start to the chapter written out, and I'm going to try to add more soon, so we'll see!**_

 _ **Ulcaasi- by Talon and Lux dump I meant let's get out all the sad stuff I've thought about and couldn't force into the real fic. ;)**_


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